Jump to content

Is there a pecking order to Ice Shows?


Recommended Posts

Is there a pecking order to Ice Shows? This is NOT a rhetorical question.

 

I don’t know anything about these events and would appreciate someone who knows filling me in on the details so I can learn about figure skating ice shows and galas. Please leave me a comment with your wisdom :) Thank you in advance. 

 

Since I discovered Yuzuru Hanyu I have become aware of an event called Ice shows. Looking at them abstractly I wonder if there is some kind of hierarchy around who skates when, in which order and whether there are any “best positions” to skate in. 

 

I ask because these things lead me to believe there is a pecking order and that Yuzuru appears to be the king of the Ice Shows. Has this always been the case or is it just Yuzu being treated special in these shows?:

1.       Yuzuru almost always is the last one to come out during the introduction or the finale

2.       Yuzuru almost always is the skater spinning in the middle with everyone else making circles around him.

3.       Yuzuru almost always is the head of the phalanx formation

4.       Yuzuru almost always initiates the line of skaters to do the bows to the crowd and the musicians

5.       Many times Yuzuru appears to wait until all the skaters leave the ice so that he is the last one to leave (and will often yell thank you to the crowd)

6.       Yuzuru seems to be the one that skates the least amount of time in the show

7.       It does not matter if Evgeny Pluschenko is in the group – Yuzuru still comes after the all-time legend of figure skating. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Why is this so?

 

My understanding from what I have seen so far is that last place in the competition skaters are first to skate in the galas and the first place skaters are last. Why?

 

If my guess is correct then In the Stockholm gala Yuzuru should have skated earlier in the event based on his placing. It appears the organisers may have re-arranged the order of skaters ….why? To give Yuzu a better position? If so, why?

 

Random thoughts occur when I watch the shows such as:

Wouldn’t the other skaters get jealous because Yuzu is always “featured” or in the spot light? You would think the other skaters would think they should have a turn at being the last one to skate or being the one featured in the middle.

 

 After the finale is over the skaters seem to hang around doing random “show-off” kind of things like jumps, hydro blades, shoma uno-like back bends, spins etc. If this is just random, why does it seem to happen at most events? Is this showing off thing part of the official program or just the skaters letting of steam?

 

If you are able to shed any light on this kind of thing for me feel free to comment. I would love to know. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The basis is : The most important/popular one appears last for ice shows. Same goes for theatre production, the main roles always last. 

Why? To hold audience attention till the end.

 

Plushenko is legendary yes but Yuzu is 2X Olympic Champion(Individual), Plushenko has 1 individual Gold.

+ its held in Japan, the host main skater is always last to appear.

 

For Exhibition gala, yes, the winners always appear last. Pretty standard order. Except for WC Yuzu was put to appear later than Yuma the silver medalist due to his popularity. 

Even if there's no audience in the stadium, the organisers might have thought the tv audience/livestream will switch off after Yuzu skated.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/9/2021 at 6:25 AM, Fay said:

Just as I did after Yuzu skated. I just switched off. 

At Skate Canada 2019 Piper and Paul, the winners at Dances, skated later than Yuzu, because they were locals. 

Yes, Yuzu went second last and brought the house down with PW. Then, even though Yuzu is the toughest act to follow, Piper and Paul were still able to keep everyone glued to their seats and spellbound with Starry Night. It was a huge testament to their talent as performers, honestly. 

 

Anyway, about the skaters having a show off session after galas and ice shows: I have no idea how it got started but it's a pretty established tradition now. It depends on whether organizers are willing to allow skaters the time for it or not, though. Some places turn on the lights pretty quick to get everyone off the ice sooner.  And as far as I can tell there's no real 'pecking order' to it, it's just whoever wants to show off. I think the other skaters encourage Yuzu and egg him on to do spectacular things a lot, though. They all seem to delight in watching him. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...